The lever or balance beam geometry has been used in different mechanisms from the time of the ancient Greeks to the early age of steam power in James Watt's engines. This Redtenbacher model is a compound mechanism. The crank mechanism on the right is essentially a four-bar linkage. The linkage on the right is a straight-line linkage used to convert the circular motion of the lever into linear, straight-line motion of the vertical sliding links, that in practice might be used in pumps. The straight-line mechanism can be found in the Reuleaux-Voigt models in the S series. Reuleaux had several balance beam models in his Berlin collection but did not create one for the Voigt catalog of models for sale.

The University of Karlsruhe models were created by Professor Ferdinand Redtenbacher (1809-1863). Among his students were Karl Benz and Franz Reuleaux. It is now clear that many of the Reuleaux models in Berlin were based on the designs of his former professor in Karlsruhe.